


Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time

by OverlyObsessed223



Series: umbrella academy one-shots where people give a damn about klaus [7]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Flashbacks, Good Sibling Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Good Sibling Number Five | The Boy, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Mentions of Death, Past Abuse, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Number Five | The Boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26415799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyObsessed223/pseuds/OverlyObsessed223
Summary: “Besides, as I said earlier, Luther is capable of defending himself,” Five adds. “This is Number One we’re talking about. There are very few people on this planet who aren’t able to be crushed with his fists.”“You think I don’t know that?” Klaus snaps, and it’s not until Five’s eyes narrow and Diego’s eyebrows furrow that he realizes he’s said too much.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Everyone, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: umbrella academy one-shots where people give a damn about klaus [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1890268
Comments: 36
Kudos: 1151





	Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time

**Author's Note:**

> Wait, am I seriously posting for the third time in less than twenty four hours????!! Yes, yes I am. This was sitting on my computer mostly written so I finished it up and boom, here we are.

It’s not often that all the Hargreeves siblings find themselves under the same roof at the same time. 

Sure, they’ve made efforts to mend relationships with each other, having felt a strong need to do so, as Five believes that their lack of communication along with their issues is what was going to cause the apocalypse. Thankfully, they’ll never really know for sure, given that the day of the apocalypse came and went without even an earthquake, leaving seven siblings unsure of what exactly to do next. Do they go back to their old lives, pretending that the last eight days didn’t even occur? Or do they stick around and try to become better at being a family?

They went with the latter option. Allison managed to arrange for her court-mandated therapy to be done virtually, and she got an apartment just a few blocks away from Vanya’s place, and the closeness has already done wonders for their relationship. Out of all of their places, Allison’s is the nicest, and Klaus particularly loves going over there to hang out with his sisters when his brothers get too annoying for him to deal with. Diego is still holding onto his “apartment” at the gym, claiming to need his own space to feel like he’s an actual adult, but Klaus suspects that he’s going to move into the academy full time—not only is he already spending at least fifty percent of his nights there, but Klaus knows from experience that the opportunity to not have to pay any rent at all is too enticing to ignore forever. 

Although Klaus was wary of it at first, Ben’s constant nagging eventually made him cave, and now he’s living full time at the Academy, along with Luther, who has not yet brought up the nerve to fully join the outside world (though he’s slowly making good progress, Klaus will give his largest brother that), and Five, who most definitely would have moved out and away by now if not for the fact that he looks like a thirteen-year-old, and thirteen-year-olds can’t exactly rent their own apartments. It’s a swell and dandy time, living with his emotionally stunted brothers, all of which believe in the _let’s ignore any and all feelings we may have and instead beat the shit out of each other until we feel better_ philosophy. 

He swears, if Diego decides to officially live here full time, Klaus _will_ beg Allison to let him move in with her before his brothers end up burning the Academy to the ground because one of them cheated at Monopoly. 

(Ben reminded him that _Klaus_ is the brother most likely to cheat at Monopoly. 

However, he agreed that the overall reaction to Klaus cheating at Monopoly _would_ end up with the building going up in flames.)

But despite their close proximity, they all are leading separate lives, whether it’s Five training Vanya, Allison’s fight to get custody of Claire back, Diego’s vigilante act, Klaus’s attempts to summon Dave and learn how to keep the ghosts away, or Luther trying to explore the city around him and build connections. And Ben… well, Ben’s still dead, so he doesn’t have much going on, besides following Klaus around and rereading the same book he’s read hundreds of times now. 

So Klaus comes downstairs, just having taken a very long bath, and is somewhat surprised to see each of his siblings, even Five, hanging out in the living room… all of them _laughing_ and seeming _happy._

It’s a strange sight to see. 

Allison notices him right away and calls his name, pulling him into a half hug, which Klaus happily returns, because honestly, while he does love his brothers, he’s unashamed to admit that he always feels happier whenever his sisters are around. 

“You know, it’s weird walking into a party that I didn’t start,” Klaus comments as he flops down onto the couch next to Vanya. 

“Yeah, well, you’re not allowed to throw parties here,” Diego reminds him of one of the only rules they’d given him when he’d moved in. The other rules had to do mainly with drugs, and he’s proud to say he’s two weeks sober as of yesterday. 

“I wouldn’t even if I could,” Klaus says, glancing around the room. “This place is _such_ a downer.”

His siblings fall back into easy conversation, a casual debate over the logic of time travel in movies, and it takes Klaus longer than he’d like to admit to realize that they’re actually one sibling short. 

“Hey, where’s Luther?” Klaus asks, a bit surprised that he’s not around because Luther is, well, _always_ around. 

“He went out,” Vanya tells him, sipping coffee from a mug that’s in her hand. “He left just before you came down, actually.”

“Ah, it’s nice to see the big guy finally going to the grocery store by himself,” Klaus grins, knowing he’s making an assumption, but there’s nowhere else he could imagine his largest brother going. 

“He didn’t go out for groceries, Klaus,” Allison says. “He said he was going to… a club, I think he said?”

Klaus’s grin falls, his eyes widening.

“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Vanya nods. 

“Sounds like a horrible time, if I’m being honest, but I’ll admit that it’s probably good he’s finally breaking out of the shell he’s been in his entire life,” Five comments before taking a drink from his margarita. 

“And… he just—went by himself?” Klaus asks for clarification, trying his best to hide the dread pooling inside of him. 

“I mean, yeah,” Diego shrugs, leaning back against the couch while he casually fiddles with one of his knives. “He asked if any of us wanted to go, but we didn’t, so he just went on his own.”

“Oh,” Klaus nods, giving his best attempt at a smile, but suddenly there are multiple memories flashing in his mind—Luther getting so angry that he slammed Klaus against the wall, lifting him up by the throat, then using his strength to shove Klaus all the way across the room. All while intoxicated, and even though he knows Luther has been better sober, Klaus can’t guarantee Luther won’t use that same strength while drunk against somebody who can’t fight back. “That’s—yeah, good for him.”

“Klaus…” Ben sounds concerned from where he’s perched on the arm of the chair that Allison is sitting in, clearly reliving those memories as well. Ben is also unhappy about Klaus’ whole dying incident, and Klaus suspects that he blames Luther for that, even though Klaus doesn’t really hold that against Luther—Klaus was the idiot who jumped onto that guy’s back, and while he was disappointed that Luther had left without even turning his head in Klaus’ direction, it’s not something he’s angry about, per se. Besides, without his trip to the afterlife, chances are he would have never had had the chance to talk to dear old Dad. 

Despite that, Klaus is well aware of the damages Luther is capable while drunk, and he knows he has the responsibility to prevent someone else from getting hurt—or worse.

But would Luther even hurt someone besides his brothers? Maybe Luther only gets truly angry with Diego and Klaus, the two people who he could never quite control or understand, and even if on the off chance he would hurt someone else, Luther was pretty upset that day. Klaus can’t imagine finding out that four years of hard isolated work was actually all for nothing. 

Still, the potential ramifications are enough to make Klaus worry.

So Klaus stands up, attracting the attention of his siblings, who had once again gone back to their conversation. “Did he, uh, say exactly which rave he was going to?”

“I don’t remember an exact name,” Diego answers, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why, does it matter?”

That’s okay, Klaus thinks, he’ll check the one Luther went to last time. Unless… didn’t he get kicked out of that rave? Usually, those kinds of places don’t keep strict bans because they can’t remember every drunk asshole who starts a fight, but Luther is pretty noticeable. So he may have to check some of the other places in the area. 

Ben stands up as well but makes no move to walk towards the door, surprisingly. 

“No, no, I just feel that it’s important to know where each other are,” Klaus fumbles, giving a half shrug as if to convey his nonexistent nonchalance. “I mean, Five, didn’t you say the Commission could still have beef with us?”

“I did, and they might,” Five nods slowly, his eyes watching Klaus very intensely, and Klaus can tell that the gears in his head are turning. “But Luther is more than capable of defending himself, and if he needs help he’ll call.”

“Yeah, but he’ll be calling from prison,” Ben mutters, crossing his arms. 

“Let’s not…” _speak that into existence,_ Klaus was going to say, but he trails off, not wanting to be in two arguments at once. “I just think we should adhere to the buddy system, don’t you think?”

“What “buddy system”?” Allison looks like she’s fighting the urge to roll her eyes. 

“Says the guy who lived alone on the streets for seventeen years,” Diego _does_ roll his eyes. 

“You were most definitely not alone,” Ben huffs, shooting Diego an annoyed glance. 

“You weren’t much of a buddy,” Klaus can’t help but respond, putting his hands up in surrender when Ben twists his head to glare at him. 

“Okay, fuck you,” Ben growls, and Klaus feels like the original topic at hand has been forgotten. 

“This urge to be Luther’s “buddy’ wouldn’t have anything to do with you wanting to go get high, would it?” Five questions, studying Klaus closely with open distrust etched into his face, and Klaus can’t help but be offended by the assumption. 

“What? No! This is the longest I’ve ever been sober in my life outside of rehab and I am dead set on staying that way,” Klaus defends himself, but the suspicion in his siblings' eyes doesn’t ease up. None of them even smile at the pun. “And even if I _did_ want to relapse for some reason, I certainly wouldn’t go get high with _Luther_ of all people!”

“Klaus, you don’t have to lie to us,” Diego says, his voice calmer and the accusatory look in his eyes easing up. “We’re here to help you.”

“I’m not—” Klaus sighs, suddenly realizing that arguing is pointless. His siblings are going to think what they want to think, and he’s not going to be able to change that. Meanwhile, Luther is probably getting drunk or high with nobody around who’s able to mediate and rein him in if things go south. “I have to go. Don’t wait up, kiddos.”

He spins on his heel, walking towards the front door, Ben following him closely. Klaus grabs his favorite coat and slips it on, and he’s rather confused by Ben’s lack of enthusiasm towards finding Luther this time around. 

“Klaus, hey, I don’t think this is a—” Ben is cut off by a flash of blue, and suddenly Five is standing right in front of Klaus, blocking his path to the door. 

Yeah, he probably should have expected that. 

“As if you think we’re just going to let you go that easily,” Five gives a humorless chuckle. 

“Can’t a man dream?” Klaus grins nervously. 

Five just stands there, crossing his arms and tapping his foot, clearly waiting for an explanation, while Diego, Allison, and Vanya all follow them into the foyer. 

“Okay, fine, you want the truth?” Klaus makes a big show of caving into Five’s annoyingly persistent demands. “I’m worried about Luther—I know he can take care of himself, but even though he’s a big guy he’s not familiar with this side of life, and someone could very easily take advantage of that.”

His siblings stare, and Ben shakes his head disappointedly. 

“You’re such a liar,” Ben sighs, rubbing his temple with his fingers, even though ghosts can’t get headaches or feel any physical pain. 

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Klaus mumbles. His siblings look confused at that, but it’s not uncommon for Klaus to talk to people that they can’t see. 

“He’s got a point,” Allison admits, finally breaking the silence. “Luther isn’t very… you know.”

“Bright? Smart? All there?” Five rattles off potential suggestions to finish her sentence and Allison nods guiltily. 

“Exactly,” Klaus smiles and begins to shuffle around Five. “So, since I’m the most knowledgeable about raves, drugs, being taken advantage of and whatnot, I’m gonna go find him and keep an eye on him. Aren’t I such a good brother?”

With that, he manages to slip out of the gazes of his siblings and get out the front door, only shutting it behind him when Ben has fully stepped out onto the front porch as well. Sticking his hands in his coat pockets, he pushes the gate open with his hip and begins walking down the sidewalk. He doesn’t miss the way Ben hesitates to follow before jogging to catch up. 

“Where should we check first?” Klaus ponders as they walk, now side by side. Now that he’s no longer under the fire of his siblings' suspicion, he feels his stomach start to flip nervously—he’s not exactly excited at the prospect of Luther taking his drunken feelings out on him again. His fingers itch for something to smoke, preferably weed, and he does his best to ignore it by curling his fingers into fists inside of his coat pockets. 

Ben doesn’t answer, however, instead deciding to pick up his pace until he’s ahead of Klaus, turning around and coming to a complete stop, forcing Klaus to stop too—he’s not a big fan of walking through his ghost brother, even though he’ll do it if he has to. 

“Ben, what the hell are you—”

“I don’t think you should go,” Ben states quickly, and Klaus furrows his eyebrows because this isn’t the attitude he’d expected Ben to have about this. “Last time this happened, it ended in disaster, and Luther was just fine.”

Klaus can’t help but snort. 

“That’s rich, coming from the guy who guilted me into going last time,” Klaus tries to keep the bitterness out of his voice, especially when Ben gives a visible wince at his words, but in the end, it slips in anyways. “What was all that about how Luther would do anything to save my scrawny junkie ass? Hmm?”

A couple walking along the sidewalk on the other side of the street gawk at him as they pass by, but Klaus is used to easily ignoring the looks he gets by now—he’s just fine with people thinking he’s crazy, and honestly, they’re not exactly _wrong._

“Well, now we both know that I was wrong,” Ben sighs, regret pooling in his eyes. “I really did think he cared, Klaus. When you hit your head and… took your trip, I really thought he would notice and come back to help you. Shit, I was so afraid that you were gone for good, and watching Luther walk away without noticing you were down made me the angriest I’ve ever been. I can’t take the chance of letting that happen again. I think I might die for the second time.”

Klaus feels a twinge of guilt after Ben finishes his speech—this is the first time they’ve truly talked about that night, and he hadn’t really thought about how Ben must have felt in those five minutes he was dead on the ground. 

“It wasn’t your fault, Benny,” Klaus says quietly, kicking a rock around with his shoe. “I was being reckless, jumping onto that guy as I did. I’m an idiot and got lucky, but if Luther hurts someone they might not be as lucky. I have to find him, Ben, you get it, right?”

Ben fidgets, looking like he wants to argue further, but eventually relents. “Yeah, I do. But be _careful_ this time, okay? If he starts a fight, _stay out of it_. It’s not worth the risk of God deciding she actually doesn’t hate you and won’t send you back again.”

“Will do, mother,” Klaus teases, letting the smile back onto his face. Ben rolls his eyes but doesn’t bother to correct him. 

Klaus is just about to start walking again, but before he can move Ben points behind him, and Klaus turns around to see Diego’s car driving towards him, slowing down when it reaches the spot where Klaus is. 

“Goddamnit, at this rate I’m not gonna find Luther until tomorrow morning,” Klaus groans, but Ben doesn’t seem all that bothered by that, a look of relief on his face put there by Diego’s presence. 

“Klaus, get in the car,” Diego orders after rolling the passenger window down. Five is sitting in the passenger seat, seeming very inconvenienced just by being there, and Klaus wonders why he’s even there. Klaus doesn’t attempt to argue with his brothers this time—at this point, no matter how strongly he feels about finding Luther quickly, he thinks arguing will cause Five to snap with rage, given the annoyed expression on his face, and Klaus does _not_ want to be the reason Five Hargreeves is pissed off. Besides, Ben is already walking towards the car, not even glancing over at Klaus to see if his brother is following.

So Klaus climbs into the backseat of the car.

“If you’re so hell-bent on finding him, I don’t want you going by yourself,” Diego says after pulling away from the curb and onto the main road. “Where should we check first?”

And it’s nice, the thought that if things go sideways tonight, he’ll have Diego and Five to back him up—while Klaus is easy to throw around, his brothers are not and will put up a good fight. Hell, with Five, there may not even be a fight. He just hopes nothing of the sort actually happens, because their family has made good progress with mending their relationships in the last couple of weeks, and Klaus does _not_ want that to be ruined. 

Klaus gives Diego the name of a place a couple of blocks away, not the one from weeks ago but a different one, and sits back, looking at the window while chewing his nails. 

It very well could be a long night.

* * *

Two hours later, they still haven’t caught wind of where Luther could be. 

The last place they checked didn’t have anyone there that matched his description, and dejectedly, Klaus walked back down the alleyway to where Diego and Five are waiting.

“He’s not there,” Klaus reports back, a wave of exhaustion hitting him as he rubs his palm tiredly against his face. “Jesus Christ, where the hell could he be?”

“Klaus, this is ridiculous and pointless,” Five grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at Klaus. “I’m sure he’s fine, just give up the search and let’s go home.”

“Maybe he already went back,” Diego suggests, leaning against the brick wall. “Five’s right, it’s getting late—let’s go back, okay?”

Klaus looks back and forth between his brothers, then over at Ben, who, judging by his face, seems to agree with them—surprise, surprise. 

“You guys can go,” Klaus tells them, not wanting to keep them out any longer because if they’re getting aggravated then that could just cause more problems that he won’t be able to fix. “I’m gonna keep looking, I’ll see you later.”

Klaus starts to walk past them, but Diego grabs his shoulder before he can leave, stopping him in his tracks and causing him to stumble a little before regaining his balance. 

“We’re not leaving without you, bro,” Diego tells him, although Five doesn’t seem to share this desire if the exasperated sigh is anything to go off of. “C’mon, man, we’ve searched half the city by now.”

“Besides, as I said earlier, Luther is capable of defending himself,” Five adds. “This is Number One we’re talking about. There are very few people on this planet who aren’t able to be crushed with his fists.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Klaus snaps, and it’s not until Five’s eyes narrow and Diego’s eyebrows furrow that he realizes he’s said too much. He immediately forces his face to brighten up, his tone lighter in contrast to his outburst. “I mean, I know that—I’ve seen the big guy fight, but you guys know what alcohol and drugs can do to someone’s judgment or thinking skills. Trust me, Luther has zero brain cells when he’s drunk.”

“What aren’t you telling us?” Five is sniffing out his lies like a bloodhound, and Klaus should’ve remembered to be more careful around him—secrets are almost impossible to keep when Five is around. 

Not that Klaus doesn’t have tremendous experience keeping secrets. 

“There’s nothing to tell, brother mine,” Klaus says casually, hoping to the little girl upstairs they can’t hear the tremor in his voice. “Anywho. Have a safe drive back home, no promises I’ll be there for breakfast, but if Mom makes waffles save me some.”

Klaus tries to shake Diego’s hand off his shoulder, but Diego’s hand only presses down harder, his grip preventing Klaus from leaving. 

“Klaus. What’s going on?” Diego prods, his face serious. 

“Just _tell them,_ Klaus,” Ben practically begs from where he’s standing next to Five, their smallest brother unaware that he’s there. “They need to know.”

Klaus opens his mouth, but before he can say anything Five cuts him off. “If you dare to waste my time with anything other than the truth I _will_ make you regret it.”

Klaus gulps, not particularly keen on finding out what Five’s threat means. 

“Okay, okay, fine, I’ll share with the class,” Klaus relents, holding up both hands in a half-hearted surrender. “Look, Luther has a really low alcohol tolerance, and from what I’ve seen, when he’s drunk he kind of tends to get… physical. And, like, not in a good way, which is why I think the big guy should try and stay away from the drugs—but he obviously went out today without me there to try and convince him not to, so I just really want to find him to make sure I’m able to stop him just in case he hurts someone el—someone. Hey… are you guys okay?”

Diego’s grip on his shoulder has tightened significantly, and Klaus has to fight the urge to wince in pain. Diego’s eyes are narrowed, studying Klaus as if he’s still working on connecting the dots, but Five is one step ahead, and Klaus feels panic start to bubble up inside of him when he notices Five’s face is twisted with rage.

“Did you just say “someone else”?” Diego’s voice is low, and Klaus would be an idiot to start lying again now. 

“Um, yeah, I guess I did,” Klaus nods, using his free arm to rub the back of his neck nervously. 

“And _who_ exactly would that be?” 

“Look, does it even matter?” Klaus finally manages to shake Diego off and throws his hands up into the air. 

“Yes, it _does fucking matter,_ ” Five hisses angrily, and then he’s marching over to where Klaus is with the speed of a cobra striking its prey. Klaus backs away until his back meets the wall, and suddenly he’s back at the Academy with Luther’s hand around his neck, the fingers tightening as he drags Klaus up the against a support beam until his feet are dangling a foot off the ground, and he’s clawing at his throat and his brother is looking at him with so much _hatred,_ and he can’t breathe, can’t breathe, can’t breathe—

“Klaus!” 

Klaus blinks, and then he’s back in the alleyway. His chest is burning for some reason, his hand raised up so that his fingers are just brushing against his neck, and he’s now on the ground. Diego is crouched in front of him, his anger temporarily replaced with alarmed concern, and Five is standing behind him, staring at Klaus with wide eyes, his mouth held open in surprise. Ben is directly to his right, kneeling next to him with a frown on his face. 

“Klaus, breathe,” Diego reminds him, and Klaus realizes that the reason his chest is burning is that he’s not breathing. Klaus sucks in a shaky breath of air, forcing it out and repeating the process several times until it slowly evens out and his heartbeat calms down. “You alright, man?”

“Yeah,” Klaus nods, swallowing thickly. “Sorry, I spaced out there.”

“Would it kill you, to tell the truth for once in your life?” Ben’s expression has turned sour.

“Yes,” Klaus answers, not bothering to remind his brother that the reason he never tells anyone his truths is that in the past nobody ever cared to believe him. 

“Jesus, Klaus, that looked like more than spacing out,” Diego comments, lifting a hand to gently grip Klaus’ arm. 

“That was definitely more than spacing out,” Five confirms, his stare burning into Klaus, who refuses to meet his eyes, instead looking at his shoes. “That was a flashback, was it not?”

Klaus doesn’t answer, and that seems to answer Five’s question. 

“Klaus,” Five says, his voice as serious as Klaus has ever heard it. Five’s hands are twitching, a telltale sign that whatever rage he’s feeling, he’s holding it back for the time being. “Answer me honestly: did Luther hit you?”

Klaus takes a deep breath. 

“Well, kind of,” he answers, and when Five raises his eyebrow Klaus is forced to explain. “I mean, it wasn’t anything I can’t handle—I get pushed around all the time on the streets—and to be fair, I can understand why he was frustrated, he’d just found out Dad sent him to the moon for nothing, which must have been horrible, and imagine having a brother who can talk to the dead, but can’t conjure your dead father because he’s always drugged up—”

“ _Klaus_ ,” Five cuts off his nervous rambling, taking a second to close his eyes and breathe in order to keep himself from losing his shit. “What. Did. He. Do?”

“He, um. He slammed me against the wall by the neck and lifted me up,” Klaus finally comes clean, and he must admit, it feels nice to have his secret out in the open, after weeks of forcing himself to shove the memory into the back of his head. “And he threw me to the ground a couple of times. I’m not sure if he was trying to be kinky, but he’ll really need to work on his delivery if he was.”

Diego’s hand reaches for a knife, while Five flexes his fingers, silence enveloping them all as his brother's likely picture the event in the minds the best they can. 

“But it’s alright, that’s what we do in this family, right? It’s not even a big deal, Diego gets into fights with him all the time!”

“That’s completely different,” Diego retorts angrily. “I can fight back—you can’t, and you won’t, so don’t even try to compare it.”

Klaus opens his mouth, but then thinks better of it and promptly shuts it, feeling himself deflate in exhaustion while his brothers stew in their anger. 

“Okay. This search is now called off,” Five breaks the silence, his voice too calm to be comforting, given the rage in his eyes. “We’re not running around all night on a wild goose chase looking for the asshole.”

Diego nods in agreement, standing back up and pulling his car keys out of his pocket, but Klaus just shakes his head because he’s not giving up, he can’t bring himself to go home, not without knowing where Luther is. 

“Klaus,” Five gives him a look, one that clearly says _quit being difficult._

“No, no, I’m sorry, but I can’t stop looking, I can’t,” Klaus says to them as desperation begins to creep up inside of him. “I just, I know what it feels like to be thrown around, and I don’t want to take the risk of someone getting hurt—not to mention, I don’t want Luther to get in trouble, okay? Things have been going so well lately and I don’t want that getting ruined because I gave up and went home.”

Diego seems conflicted between giving in and dragging Klaus home, reaching up and rubbing his temple with his hand. 

“We’ll check one more place,” Diego compromises, and Klaus will take what he can get. “Then we’re done. Deal?”

“Deal,” Klaus nods, feeling relieved. Five doesn’t look too happy about this, but he doesn’t argue as Klaus starts to lead them back down the alleyway towards the next closest place—the place he and Ben found Luther in last time. 

Like all the places they’ve checked before, the music from inside is spilling out onto the streets as people go in and out, intoxicated laughter filling the air as Klaus approaches the door, Diego and Five walking side by side behind him. Klaus recognizes the bouncer standing at the door—it’s the same guy from last time. 

The bouncer gives Five a long glance before giving Klaus and Diego questioning looks. “Sorry, guys, no kids allowed in here.”

Five bristles at that, and Diego reaches out to put a hand on their brother’s shoulder—to an outsider, it probably looks like a gesture of comfort, but anyone who knows them would see the hand is there to keep Five from acting out on his homicidal tendencies. Klaus gives the bouncer his most charming smile. 

“Oh, we’re not trying to go in, don’t worry, we’re not that irresponsible,” Klaus chuckles, and the bouncer nods in understanding. “No, actually, we’re looking for someone. He’s a really, _really_ big guy, super hairy, looks like an ape—has he been here? You can’t miss him.”

The bouncer thinks for a second nodding. “Oh, I remember that guy. Wow, that’s the biggest guy I’ve ever seen. Yeah, he came by about half an hour ago, but I couldn’t let him in because the boss has him banned. I pointed him towards a place just down the street—maybe he’s there.”

“Thanks,” Diego says gruffly from behind Klaus, hand still firm on Five’s shoulder. “We’ll go check. Klaus, let’s go.”

They turn around, and Klaus is happy that they finally have a lead. Maybe everything is going to be okay. 

“Hey, wait a second!” the bouncer calls out, and Klaus spins around on his heels. He’s pointing at Klaus, recognition dawning on his face. “I remember you! You were with him the last time—you got into that fight, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Klaus nods nervously, hoping his brothers won’t make too much of it. 

“Damn, you hit your head _hard_ when that guy threw you off his back,” the bouncer continues on, his eyes wide as saucers. “I coulda swore you were dead—didn’t seem like you were breathing or had a pulse for a few minutes. I went in the back to call the cops but when I got back, you were gone.”

Klaus can feel Diego and Five’s intense stares from behind him.

Wow, he’s so fucking screwed. 

“Yeah, no, I’m not dead,” Klaus gives an uneasy smile, swallowing hard. “Still kicking. Now, we’re gonna go find our brother… have a good one…”

The bouncer watches in awe and Klaus turns around slowly, not surprised in the slightest by the enraged looks on his brother's faces.

“Um, the place he said Luther went to is only a five-minute walk from here,” Klaus tells them, unable to keep his voice from shaking as Diego and Five continue to stare at him. Diego’s grip on Five has gone slack. “So… let the journey begin!”

Surprisingly, Klaus is able to slip past them—though maybe that’s because they’re frozen in shock. Klaus isn’t really sure why they would be, it’s not like he actually died. Ben looks like he’s seconds from banging his head on the brick wall repeatedly, not like that would do anything. 

“Dead…?” Diego chokes out disbelievingly. 

“Well, technically, but only for a few minutes,” Klaus shrugs as he starts walking away from them, “but obviously, it didn’t stick, so yay!”

They walk to the club where Luther is supposed to be, the tension in the air so sharp it could probably stab a person if it wanted. Neither Diego nor Five have said anything, probably still processing everything they’ve learned tonight, which is… too much for Klaus’ liking, but there’s not much he can do now. 

“Stay here,” Diego orders Klaus and Five when they make it to the other club, heatedly eyeing Klaus as if daring Klaus to argue. Klaus just nods, leaning back against the side of the building tiredly. Five stands next to him, wordlessly shoving his hands in his pockets as Diego disappears inside the club. 

“You have a lot of explaining to do later,” Five tells him, and Klaus doesn’t think he’s ever seen his brother so… enraged before. 

So Klaus just nods. 

They stand there in silence for ten minutes before Diego finally reappears, a confused and stumbling Luther held tight in his hold. Diego gives a glance in Klaus and Five’s direction before beginning the march back to the car, one hand tight around Luther’s arm and the other holding his favorite stabbing knife. Five follows close behind, his eyes watching Luther’s back so hard that Klaus almost expects a hole to burn through Luther’s body. Maybe that’s what Five is going for. 

They reach the car, and Diego shoves Luther into the backseat before slamming it shut, and Klaus winces at the loud, aggressive sound it makes. Klaus puts his fingers on the door handle but makes no move to open it, just staring through the window at Luther who is now passed out against his own door. 

He feels a small hand push his own away from the door and looks down to see Five now gripping the handle instead. 

“Get up front,” Five commands, still sounding angry, but his voice has lost its enraged edge. 

In what world does Five Hargreeves, the 58-year-old time-traveling assassin, volunteer to sit in the backseat?

Then, Five glances through the window at their largest brother and Klaus realizes with a start what Five is getting at. 

“I’m not afraid of him,” Klaus tells Five, and he’s not, right? No, how could he be afraid of Luther, his big brother? It was just that once when tensions were high, and Klaus is certainly not afraid, no matter what his nightmares seem to sometimes think. 

Five just hums disbelievingly before blinking into the backseat, because Five has almost never bothered with opening doors.

Klaus sighs before getting into the front seat. Diego already has the car running, and his knuckles are white as he grips the wheel, watching Klaus shut the door and put his seatbelt on. However, the click of the seat belt doesn’t prompt Diego to start the drive home. 

“You got any more secrets you wanna share with us?” Diego says, his voice low and slightly dangerous. 

“Um… not that I can think of,” Klaus shakes his head slowly, biting his nails anxiously.

“I can list a few—Vietnam and the mausoleum are at the top of my head,” Ben says from where he’s sandwiched between Five and Luther. “You could share _those_ secrets.”

Yeah, as if. Klaus simply ignores Ben, because his secret sharing quota is officially maxed out for the time being. Besides, he thinks his siblings' heads would blow clean off if he mentioned any of his other… adventures. 

Diego nods his head once and puts the car in drive, turning the direction of the Academy. 

“We’re going to have a long… discussion about all this tomorrow,” Diego tells him, his eyes focused straight ahead on the road. 

“Do we have to?” Klaus meekly asks, and Diego seems appalled at the question. “I mean, can’t we just move forward?”

They’ve been making so much progress as a family, and Klaus would hate to be the one to set them all back. 

“Sweeping past events under the rug isn’t how we move forward, Klaus,” Five sternly says from the backseat, and judging by his tone there’s not much room to argue. 

Klaus knows his brothers are upset with him for not telling them about everything that happened at the club and beforehand, and his sisters likely will be too when Five and Diego inevitably spill the beans. There will probably be a lot of arguing and yelling come tomorrow when they call a family meeting, and Klaus knows a lot of that anger will be directed at him as well as Luther, which he understands—their family doesn’t take very kindly to keeping secrets anymore. Five’s jaw is set from where he’s sitting in the backseat, his hands balled into fists, and Diego’s still gripping the steering wheels so hard Klaus almost expects for the wheel to break off, but Klaus catches them both glancing at him on the drive back with hints of softness in their eyes in spite of all their rage. 

Maybe it’s just because they care. 

**Author's Note:**

> Awwww ;)
> 
> thanks for reading!


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